In the second serious vehicle crash this week, at least one Qatar motorist has been killed following a horrific collision involving a transport truck on Salwa Road in Sailiya yesterday afternoon.

According to photos and video of the scene shared with Doha News, the impact involved a Toyota pickup truck that toppled over on its side. Its passenger compartment appeared to have been crushed by the transport truck.

The body of a man could be seen several meters away, lying on the asphalt next to the tractor-trailer.

The video also showed a group of nearly a dozen men pushing the larger vehicle several feet backwards to separate it from the pickup truck.

The group then tipped the badly damaged Toyota back onto its wheels and off the motionless body of another man.

According to Al Sharq, both men in the pickup truck were Qatari nationals and died of their injuries. However, other reports say there was only one fatality.

Safety concerns

Yesterday’s collision in Sailiya occurred two days after a British expat was killed while driving on the Corniche when a large shipping container fell onto his vehicle.

The involvement of large transport trucks in both accidents has rattled some residents:

http://twitter.com/omerm27/status/603432061970460672

The exact cause of yesterday’s crash, as well as Sunday’s, remains unclear.

However, between 2008 and 2010, more than 70 percent of truck and heavy equipment drivers involved in collisions were deemed by police to be at fault, according to Qatar’s National Road Safety Strategy. It noted:

“Although such crashes account for a small proportion of all crashes, the consequences can be major in terms of the severity of injury and traffic disruption.”

Officials have also previously highlighted how the relative age of the country’s trucks pose additional risks:

“Heavy vehicles and buses are often less modern than the car fleet and lack important safety features – for example, side and rear under-run protection on heavy vehicles.”

Separately, government officials have attempted to separate truck and heavy equipment traffic from smaller vehicles by banning them from traveling through dense urban areas during peak periods.

Late last year, a bypass connecting Lusail with the Industrial Area was also opened to facilitate heavy vehicle traffic.

However, yesterday’s collision occurred well outside central Doha. The incident on the Corniche, meanwhile, involved a truck that appeared to have just left Qatar’s primary shipping port.

Thoughts?